Paper short abstract:

Due to their persistence, flexibility and the adequacy of their conduct the local Bedouin politicians in the borderland of Egypt and Libya y have been able to remain important “producers of order” beside, beyond and with but not necessarily against the state.

Paper long abstract:

Local politicians carry many names and labels in social anthropology. The common denominator is usually the intermediary position of local politicians between (local) populations and different kinds of centralized authority. I will argue that the local is the principle place where political order of the borderland is generated. It is the space where local and regional politicians, opinion leaders and groups act as gatekeepers between the (weak) state, the vitality of the local arena, and the transnational sphere. The principal architects of this order are local politicians of the Awlad 'Ali tribal federation. My understanding of local politicians (and locality) refers to political ideas and practices that are directly related to and embedded in a concrete place like a village, town, or region, or a specific social group. At the same time, these local politicians might be interconnected with practices and discourses that go beyond the local arena into centers and cities across state borders and sovereignties and even into global political currents. The politicians are located at the interfaces of the local, the national and transnational political fields. The political practices in the borderland are based on a substantial historical depth of experience (in politics) that often comprises several generations and thus goes beyond the lifespan of postcolonial states and their regimes. Due to their persistence, flexibility and the adequacy of their conduct they have been able to remain important "producers of order" beside, beyond and with but not necessarily against the state.